


School Days

by hippiechick



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Best Friends, Gen, Middle School, puppy dog eyes, school days
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-03-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 21:33:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3304211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hippiechick/pseuds/hippiechick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snippets of middle school life where John and Sherlock are friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I watched an emerging friendship at work today and could easily picture John and Sherlock in the same situation. I thought back over my years in the classroom and library to find other similar incidents and did a little substitution. (My apologies for the bad formatting---still learning!)

The librarian watched as the two boys came running in at the speed of sound, bound for the computers. Even though lunch time had just started, she knew that neither of them had eaten a bite. They were always inseparable during their only time together during the day, since they were in different grades.  
“John, you play first,” said the taller, younger boy. “I’ll watch out for the pirates coming in from the sides.”  
“But Sherlock, it’s your turn to play first. I don’t mind being the look-out,” John said to his best friend.  
“When I’m a great detective, you’ll have to be my bodyguard, so you need to practice your shooting now. We can’t go around getting shot. You will need to protect us.”  
“OK. That sounds good. You sit on the left side of the chair, then, so that my shooting hand is closest to the controls. You remember that I’m left-handed, right?”  
“John, I know and will always remember everything about you! Now let’s play,” said the happy curly haired boy.  
The librarian smiled as the two boys crowded onto the chair at the computer. Their two heads, one dark and curly, the other a towhead, pressed close together. Sherlock’s right arm hung over the back of the chair, with his hand resting on John’s shoulder. They smiled at each other, booted up the computer and contentedly saved the world from all the pirates.

~~~~~~~~

The science teacher always opened her classroom early so those who needed the safe space could come in and be kids without the worry of fending off the bullies for a while. She loved to have them in her classroom and listen to their conversations, watch their games and help with homework or other problems, if they happened to ask her. Usually, she just let them be.  
On this particular day, there were 7 students all talking excitedly. They found the metre sticks she had gotten out for the day’s lesson. As she started to pay attention to what they were doing, she watched John Watson, one of the smallest kids in the school, take charge of organizing the seven into an army. “Now, we will need to know how to fight with these swords (and here he handed the metre sticks out to everyone) because hand-to-hand combat is an important skill for defeating the zombies.” John showed some basic parry and thrust motions that would be easy enough for all to learn. “You, Holmes, you look like you know what you’re doing there,” John cried at the tallest boy in the room.  
“My mummy insisted that I learn fencing; she said it would come in handy one day. I am certain she didn’t mean against zombies. I thought she meant against my aggravating older brother!”  
The seven students practiced with their makeshift swords, chasing each other around the room, poking each other and shouting “En garde” whenever they made an especially daring move. The teacher couldn’t help but smile to herself as she took in the melee happening in her classroom that morning. By the time the bell rang for students to head to their classes, John and Sherlock, (“oi, he’ll need to know sword skills with a name like that,” she thought to herself) had mapped out all contingencies for a zombie attack on the school. They promised her that she would be the first teacher they would save. It looked like the two of them were going to be fast friends.  
Several days later, she saw the two boys together again, arms slung around each other’s shoulders, laughing their way to the exit. The rest of their rag-tag army was right behind them, ready to save the world.

~~~~~~~~~

“Hello, Mrs. Holmes, I’m Miss Ford, Sherlock’s science teacher this year. As you can see, he is doing exceptionally well in my class. He has 105% and sometimes, it seems like he knows this information even better than I do! Haha!”  
“I can assure you, Miss Ford, that my son does, in fact, know this material much better than you. He is a genius at academics. It is his social intelligence that I am at a loss to explain.”  
“I don’t think you need to worry about that. He seems to make his way, although, I agree, he doesn’t have many friends. In fact, he just has the one close friend named John Watson. It seems where one is, you will find the other.”  
“I had my older son look into this John Watson boy. I’m not sure he is suitable company for my son. He is here on a scholarship, is only mediocre at his classes, and may I say, apparently has quite a mouth on him. This is not the type of so-called friend I wish my son to have. You must keep them apart while they are at school during the day.”  
“Mrs. Holmes, I can assure you that John is a good boy. He is not a bad influence on Sherlock at all. They play together, study together, I’ve even seen John get Sherlock to eat a bit at lunch. John has intervened on Sherlock’s behalf several times, when it looked like a fight was going to ensue. Sherlock really couldn’t do much better for a best friend.”  
“Well, I don’t like it. You had better be right, Miss Ford.”  
“Don’t you worry, Mrs. Holmes. If I see that John is being a bad influence on Sherlock, I will bring it to your attention and do my best to discourage the friendship.”  
Mrs. Holmes picked up her handbag, wrapped her scarf around her neck and walked regally out of Miss Ford’s classroom. Miss Ford uncrossed her fingers under her desk and muttered, “Like hell I will!”  



	2. Left behind

Miss Hewitt checked the new boy, Jim, into school, made sure he had the books he needed, took his picture for an ID card, and sent him on his way to his first class. She thought to herself that perhaps he was a boy to keep an eye on. Something set her spidey senses to tingling but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Maybe it was his eyes, nearly black. Or his glib manner of speech. Or that he didn’t come with a parent or even mention them at all. Whatever it was, she didn’t like it one little bit. She wondered who he would end up hanging around with, envisioning that nasty piece of work, Sebastian, as the most likely boy. Perhaps even Irene would be in that circle. In her experience, like attracted like.

 

So it was quite a disheartening surprise when, several days later, Sherlock Holmes came into the library with Jim Moriarty. They were whispering together and pointing at other students. This was nothing like the Sherlock that she knew and was very disappointed. The next day, John Watson dragged his feet into the library, barely even mumbling his polite “Good Morning, Miss Hewitt” as he usually did. It was quite odd to not see him joined at the hip with Sherlock. He looked over to the table in the back of the room to see his friend sitting with Jim. Sherlock looked at John for a few seconds, as a mask of indifference settled over both their faces. “John, did you and Sherlock have an argument?” she queried. He was reluctant to reply and only nodded a feeble “yes” before he excused himself and left the building.

 

This continued for two weeks, and John almost completely stopped coming in the library. Sherlock and Jim held court at the back table, never quite doing anything that Miss Hewitt could call them on, but she knew something was going on. Jim would jump up every so often and run outside to take or make a phone call. Occasionally, two or three of the seemingly misfit kids would stop by their table to carefully speak with Jim. She watched Sherlock watch Jim with those odd eyes of his and wondered what he could be up to. Surely he was smart enough not to be taken in by the likes of such an oily boy. 

 

One day after school, she saw John and Sherlock arguing out on the sidewalk. John was waving his arms, as if to say “What are you doing? What could you possibly be thinking, by hanging out with that git?” Sherlock just shook his head and didn’t say much. John turned and marched off without a backward look. Sherlock watched him with a sad look then got into the black car that rolled up to take him home.

 

Talking with other staff members at lunch one day, Miss Hewitt learned that incidents of bullying, fighting, and petty thievery had taken a dramatic rise in the last few weeks. They hypothesized on the causes, but Miss Hewitt was certain that she knew and it all came down to Jim Moriarty’s arrival at their school. Without proof, there wasn’t much she or the administration could do, so she vowed to keep her eyes and ears open in order to eavesdrop (more closely!) on the conversations in the library, particularly those that happened at that back table. 

 

On Thursday, Sherlock and John came into the library, giggling together as always. It made her heart happy that they were obviously friends again. When she mentioned this to the boys, John said, “Sherlock is amazing. Just brilliant. I thought he had abandoned me, but it turns out that he only did it to keep Jim from picking on me. He knew exactly what Jim was starting here at our school in the first few days, so he basically went undercover into Jim’s gang to get information. He told Principal Lestrade what he learned and now Jim is being expelled! Just amazing!” John beamed at his friend, and Sherlock blushed a bit at the praise and adulation. Then he said, “Jim was so tedious. And really, how did no one else on this campus realize that he was behind the crime wave taking place here? Is everyone really that stupid? It was so obvious from his lack of a tie, his left thumb and his mobile.” Both of the boys rolled their eyes, obviously for different reasons as they looked at the other. “Bit not good there with the ‘stupid’ comment, Sherlock,” admonished John, although he smiled the whole time he said it. The boys burst into giggles again and continued on to their usual spot at the middle table.


	3. You'll be beautiful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone gets glasses but doesn't want to wear them.

Miss Hewitt looked up to see the boys coming into the library one morning before school. It appeared that Sherlock was attempting to cajole John into doing something that he was having absolutely no truck with. "This is bound to be interesting, knowing these two," she thought to herself. They headed to their usual spot at the table by the window and continued their discussion. All around them, students were talking, playing mancala or Battleship, finishing that last bit of homework or simply reading a book. Neither of them noticed anything but the other.

A few minutes before the bell rang, they approached Miss Hewitt's desk to say their good mornings to her. John was attempting to hide something in his hand but wasn't having much luck. "Show her, John," Sherlock commanded, pointing between John and Miss Hewitt. "What have you got there?" she inquired. He held out a case for a pair of glasses and kept his head down. "Oh, let's see them. I love new glasses. See, I just got these--my Harry Potter glasses. Now all I need is a scar on my forehead!" They all sort of chuckled at her bad joke and waited for the big opening of the case. Sherlock was trying to pull the case from John's hands but John seemed adamant that he do it himself. He pulled the halves apart, slowly opening the hinges. Inside lay a gorgeous pair of red-framed glasses. They were rather rectangular, with a bit of a roundness on the top side. "Oh, John! Those are fabulous glasses," Miss Hewitt gushed. "Put them on, let's see how handsome you look in them." "No, I don't like how I look in them. Not now." Sherlock gaped at his friend and exclaimed, "But John; you're beautiful in those glasses. Put them on. Please?" He looked at John shyly and John slowly took them out of the case and put them on his face. The color and shape were quite flattering on him and both Miss Hewitt and Sherlock oohed and ahhed over him. John was seriously embarrassed by but quite pleased with the responses. He quickly removed the glasses and put them back in the case. The boys looked at each other, looked at Miss Hewitt, said their goodbyes and headed off to first period. 

Over the years, Miss Hewitt had become rather adept at reading her students. With John and Sherlock, she was certain that theirs was a friendship for the ages and wondered if they had the slightest inkling of that.


End file.
